Question

Complete the following sentence using the correct form of the verb in the brackets.
Mr. Gupta’s servant _______ (steal) the money yesterday.
A) Stole
B) Steal
C) Stolen
D) Were stealing

Answer 1

Hint: A verb is a word that in syntax conveys an action, an occurrence, or a state of being. In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive. In many languages, verbs are inflected to encode tense, aspect, mood, and voice.

Complete answer:
From the given options, the correct word to be used is stole. Here the word is stole which is in the simple tense.In option B steal is incorrect because 'steal' is in the present tense. But the word yesterday indicates that the event happened in the past and steel is used with present tense.

Option C stolen would have been correct if the blank was preceded by 'had' as stolen is in past tense.
Option D where stealing is incorrect because there is only one servant and 'were' is plural and also the situation is in present tense while stealing becomes past continuous tense.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘A’.

The most common types of verbs are-
Main Verbs (or Action Verbs)- Main verbs or action verbs are used to express action; something that an animal, a person or a thing does. In each of the following sentences, we only have a main verb. Example- The sun shines.
Helping Verbs- As the name suggests, helping verbs help or support the main verb. Example- You should complete the work by tomorrow. (should: helping verb; complete: main verb)
Linking Verbs- State of Being verbs state that something 'is'. State of being verbs also known as linking verbs. Linking verbs explain a link between the subject of the sentence and a noun or adjective being linked to it. Example- The flowers are bright.

Note: Tense is expressed by verbs with the help of four basic forms: infinitive, present participle, the past, and the past participle. The infinitive is the most basic form of the verb, for example, look, eat, etc.